Let me hijack this post because I worked with this kind of stuff and it is very important. Today your phone sends out 3 identifiable signals, virtually everywhere around you.
The first is a GSM signal, that’s what you use to make calls and send actual sms text and connect to data. This has obviously its own identifiers which your phone provider uses to distinguish you, and depending on the plan you have, it’s tied to your name and location close to the cell tower you’re connected to and this info can be easily accessed by a warrant. In some cases no warrant is needed.
Your ESSID and other information is sent through your phones onboard wifi looking for places to connect to. This can super easily be stored, and while it is not entirely connected to a name, unless your phone has a host address like “Tom’s Iphone10” or “Brittany’s Samsung S20″, your (whole) name is not directly tied to it. But your phones identity and mac address are.
The third thing is bluetooth, which does not have the long range that wifi does but that actually makes it more dangerous, since it can pinpoint you to a certain location where the data was captured. Especially during a protest. This way you can’t talk yourself out of ever being there. This technology also gives out identifiers, like your phones name and Bluetooth mac address.
Apart from this info, there are ways to pull easily provided information directly from your phone. Cause when your phone connects to publicly available networks it also starts looking for the services it is connected to, sending cookies to websites like facebook and twitter which can be traced back to you.
This sort of information capture out in the open is called a Dragnet, and is employed by Police and other forces for data gathering out in the public. And it is quite legal, given that you’re providing this information out in the open, knowingly or unknowingly, just like video surveillance and facial identification capture.
Now Dragnets are super useful because they capture this information, and in the case of crimes being committed, people can be traced back that didn’t get caught on camera.
On a non security measure aspect they can be used in people counting, helping businesses plan and execute their services better, lowering cost and improving customer experiences.
Some are even using types of dragnet technology to count people in a library or gym and send the data in real time to your phone to tell you how crowded a place is. Lot’s of good things.
The thing is that this tech is real and it is out there already, I have seen this tech being employed, I have offered people to build this tech for them for good uses only and I have seen these devices out in the wild.
But obviously this technology has been, and is continuing to be misused by law enforcement to discriminate, falsely accuse and detain people just because they happen to cross through a dragnets at the time of an alleged happening or situation. There is absolutely no legislation covering this specific situation and deployment or use of this kind of tech.
Be safe, and don’t bring your phone to a protest. Also keep your Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off in public when you’re not using it. There are apps available that turn them off for you.
